OAS Secretary
General Insulza and Honduran President Zelaya Inaugurate Anti-Corruption Workshop
in Tegucigalpa

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and
Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales inaugurated the “National Workshop on the Implementation of
Inter-American Convention against Corruption,” held in Tegucigalpa January 31
and February 1.

In their remarks, both
President Zelaya and Secretary General Insulza pointed out recent advances
made by Honduras in the fight against corruption, including enacting laws on
transparency and access to information.

“Today, we strive to give more
power to the citizenry, to give more access to public information so that
citizens are empowered…” said Zelaya.

As noted by Insulza, the
objective of the workshop was “simple and practical” – to continue and
consolidate the advances made so far.

During the workshop more than 200 participants from
all sectors of Honduran government and society examined and provided feedback on
the national anti-corruption Plan of Action.

Peru’s Minister of Justice Rosario Fernández and the head of the National
Anti-Corruption Office Carolina Lizárraga open Peru's workshop

More than 60 institutions from
the government and civil society came together to review and perfect Peru’s
national anti-corruption Plan of Action during a workshop which took
place in Lima, February 14 and 15.

During opening remarks,
Carolina Lizárraga Houghton, head of the National Anti-Corruption Office, noted
that the proposed Plan included 81 specific actions to be completed in the
medium term, which would result in the complete development of regulations
required by the Public Employment Framework Law, full compliance with the national
electronic system for procurement and contracting, and the training of 8,000
citizens on access to information, among others outcomes.

As noted by Lizárraga, the
results of the workshop will be included in a final Draft Plan of Action, which
will then be presented for approval by the Group of Ministers (Consejo de
Ministros).

Anti-Corruption Plan of Action Project

The purpose of the national workshops held in
Honduras and Peru was to finalize the details
of the respective national anti-corruption
Plans of Action. Each Plan of Action provides
a detailed roadmap for implementing the
recommendations made by the Committee of
Experts of the Mechanism for Follow-up on the
Implementation of the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption (MESICIC).

The Plan of Action project is an initiative
supported by the Anti-Corruption Fund.

What is the MESICIC?

The Mechanism For Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against
Corruption, known as MESICIC for its Spanish acronym, is a tool to support the development
of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through cooperation between
States Parties.